Tuesday, December 9, 2014

taking the leap

Hair before.... Long and ombre
 Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith, pursue your dreams, inspire others and smile. For years I've said I wanted purple hair. Not sure of the shade, cut or style, but just that I wanted purple. I fought myself on how fun it would be but also what would it look like and how it would fit in. Life isn't about appeasing everyone though. I live my life as a business owner, wife and mother making sure everyone else is happy, fed and cared for and this seems so contradictory to not do something to make myself smile. Well. I jumped. Went for it, took the plunge, bit the bullet, what other sayings are there? I could not be happier. I feel energized, which any women knows there is no greater esteem or instant pride than when we get a fresh cut and blow dry. We walk on clouds, unstoppable. LOL. So 4-5 inches lighter


 and now a gorgeous shade of plum, I have no regrets other than not doing it sooner. Sometimes you just have to do something wacky. It will grow back, I will eventual go back to my signature brunette but for now

I'm happy to ring in the holidays as a sugar plum. Maybe I'll get extra gifts from Santa?


Go be unstoppable. 
Happy. 
Adventurous 
& Brave!


Here was the inspiration from Pinterest that my amazing colorist used. This

Monday, November 3, 2014

Charming Shower for Baby Evan



Over the weekend I threw a darling little shower for a very special mommy to be. She's been through a horribly hard and emotional pregnancy and I wanted to pamper her with a small scale shower, focusing just on her and baby boy. Giving her time to just talk, be around supportive and loving friends and eat some REALLY yummy food. The decor was cute, charming with a cottage feel. Setting the tone was the menu and decor so I decided a Sunday brunch would be best to feature my culinary skills (shameless horn tooting) and creativity. Branches, white puffs, burlap and brown set the major tone. We did a gift card shower, it was very important for the to be able to buy the things she will need over time, since I have provided her with LITERALLY all my son's clothing, equipment and accessories. She was BEYOND happy to now have plenty of $$ to buy diapers, wipes and odds and ends over the next few months as she figures things out. I am so happy with how everything turned out. Here are some photos and the menu. SMALL shout out to everyone who attended. THANK you so much for being there to celebrate with us.

Menu-
Challah French toast ( Super Easy) [loaf of challah, sliced, 6 eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, cream)
Apple Caramel syrup  (for French toast)- little trickier, but totally do-able. [condensed milk, brown sugar, apple slices and maple syrup]  About $8 for 12 slices which we cut in half diagonally and $4 Sauce
 

Spinach Parmesan Frittata- OK Yum CRAZY easy! [ dozen eggs, big handful of fresh spinach(stack&slice) 1 cup of shredded or shaved parmesan, black pepper and cream] Mix and pour into casserole dish- broil on LOW until firm center  $9 (the darn tub of cheese was the expense at $5)

Honey Chipotle Shrimp over cheddar grits with OLD BAY Butter Sauce- Party FAVORITE- Skilled of bacon bits and bacon fat, butter, shrimp, chipotle and honey (Will do blog post on this full recipe including sauce)  The menu protein and STAR of the table. Shrimp were 31/40s so about $10 a pound. I got 1.5 lbs. Used the left over bacon and grease from the quesadillas. About $20 for this item

Rosemary Red Potato Home Fries-  Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Red potatoes and rosemary. Simple and Classic  .99 cents a pound for the tatos. I believe I had 6 large red potatoes then a small pack of fresh rosemary- About $6 for this item.

Bacon Quesadillas- YES! Bacon Quesadillas- (Chopped bacon, cheddar and Mozzarella cheese, some sauteed red onion) Tortillas $3, Bacon $4, Chopped onion from salads bar at grocer $1, Cheese 2/$4 = $12

DESSERT- was a delicious Chocolate Cupcake using a devils food box mix but with Olive Oil topped with Almond Brittle Frosting and chocolate sprinkles.  (box $1.30, Made frosting from scratch- About $6

DRINKS- Iced Mochas & Mimosas (Mochas- Swirls of chocolate syrup, Ice, milk, chilled sweetened coffee)  $20

Total food adding in the 2 pints of cream, 4 sticks of butter and odds you maybe don't have on hand is about $95 or less. . USE what you have. :)


Everything on the menu was decadent, rich and fun. With a smaller scale event I could play into my foodie friend's appetite. The tissue paper puffs costs $4 to make about 10 of them. 3 packs of 20 sheet white glitter tissue paper from Wal-Mart and some brown twine. Then vases of sticks straight from the backyard added some elegance and charm. Burlap baby signs and banners finished off the adorable shower. We suspended a clear umbrella from the ceiling to hold the giftcards and everyone used a sharpie to write a note to sweet baby boy. 




More Pictures-









This post is dedicated to my best friend and her bundle of joy soon to enter the world. Baby E is so loved and is so lucky to grow up under your wing. I cannot wait to see you transform into such an amazing mother. Evan will be your world and there is no better man to fill your heart than the one that was created for you and by you. The amount of love you are about to expience is like nothing you could ever imagine and soon all this pain and nonsense will all make sense and be completely worth it. Enjoy this last time resting and preparing yourself for the mommy roller coaster because the adventure is about to begin. Love you! - Lauren

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Basic Need

There is so much happening in our lives. So much we take for granted or simply over look. We forget reality, the essentials, in essence the fundamentals of life. We have basic needs and I use basic in the most extreme sense of the term. Things we need for our survival. We need food, water, shelter and clothing. These are our needs, what keeps up in the day to day and yet we forget at their most minimal form they nourish our lives.

Food. When I say that, most people think "OMG Pumpkin spice latte!" or "Burrito with chips and salsa please". Most of you don't say.. "hot soup & some crackers". We believe that we take things into consideration, that we are mindful of our surroundings and the reality of the world we live in. At a deeper more invasive level we tend not to think about things as serious as being freezing or starving.

 There are people, homeless, living in a makeshift tent off the on ramp to the highway. There are mothers forced out of their home with a child, sleeping in a car and using the gas station bathrooms to maintain some sense of hygiene. There are children who go home to empty cabinets at night and go to school in the morning not to learn but because they are starving. The only food and perhaps even shelter they get come between 9am to 4pm when they are in school surrounded by their peers. There are people that are ill and not sniffles sick but forever sick. The kind of pain and torture where not only can they not help their body heal but they also know their days are numbered. They have been cursed with the knowledge of their inevitable fate. They cannot afford bills or extensive treatment, let alone work for income. Food becomes an afterthought. Someone once said, "Why feed a body that has failed you?" Yea, it was that bad. That statement hit me like a freight train. To be that pained with suffering daily.


We forget through the chaos of what to wear to a party, what toy to get for our child's birthday or whether to stop by dunkin donuts, that there are so many variations of the world we live in. Pain to one person is not the same pain as others. That house you live in, with curtains, pillows, maybe a dent in the wall is a home before anything else. Its supposed to protect you, keep you from the elements and give you warmth. Everything else it serves as if pure indulgence. I privilege that comes in all shapes and sizes.

You may donate our old clothes to a charity, some canned goods to a shelter, but have you ever actually thought about the day to day of the person receiving those items. Most often they were once a contributing member of society, some may have been doctors, business professionals or artists. Life threw them curve balls and for one reason or another that landed them in a group home or unfortunately on the streets. We take that for granted, I have literally heard someone say, "if he doesn't want to be homeless, he should of had a job." The entitlement these days astounds me.  He may had had a job, a good one. May have lost his ability to work, perhaps at the hand of injury, disaster or addiction. When did it become a social norm to be so critical and honestly inhuman to other people. People feed stray cats but gasp at the "nerve" of a homeless women walking down the street.

You are one of the lucky ones, for now. You have been led down a blessed road. You're reading this from your computer, tablet or phone, maybe relaxing, possibly you are at work. Nevertheless you are alive, with food in your stomach and clothing on your back and somehow people think that gives you the say so to be down right disgustingly cruel to people that have not had it easy.

THINK ABOUT THAT.
How blessed you are. Your health, your home, clothing, family. To some people, you're life is a DREAM. A place they go when they are hitting rock bottom to escape the reality that they are sharing a water bottle and rag blanket with 2 other people. You're life, even though you face your own challenges and fast balls is something they could only hope to experience or get back to. We forget, I forget. I forget that sometimes my kids drive me crazy, my house looks like a hurricane came through and I'm having a bad day. I actually laugh at how selfish and ridiculous that seems. Some spilled milk and my day is now horrible. Sometimes you jut need a little reality check. Think about your basic needs, if they are being met and be thankful for the life you have. Not everyone is so lucky.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Catching up

So I've been MIA.. .a lot has happened since my last post so lets start with the easy stuff. For 1 business is good with PPBN and I recently got back into Life coaching, an addition to my repertoire you will likely see take shape here. Probably the biggest news is that I'm now a mother of 3. After my miscarriage and swearing I wasn't strong enough to go through another emotional and on edge pregnancy I discovered I was pregnant in April of 2013.

What a roller coaster that was. I am however happy to report that 2 weeks early but not a moment too soon, my gorgeous baby boy was born November 30. He is a gift I never knew I needed and I've never been so in love with anyone. For me it was like a gift, like a greater good saying, you ARE strong enough, you CAN do this, and HERE you go. 9 months have never passed both so slow and so fast. My second rainbow baby. Unfortunately the day I found out was the day after my grandfather took his own life. That scenario no matter how much psychology you study, how many crisis classes you take, how many people you know that have been through it, NOTHING can prepare you for that situation. 2013 was a year where we lost greatness and gained awareness. Awareness for the precious things, that in darkness it is easier to see the smaller lights and that rainbows do come after the biggest storms. I learned that anger really is the best defense, not the most appropriate but definitely the easiest and I taught myself how to control it. How to channel those feeling in and to express them toward something deserving of my focus. I learned how to be a better person. This blog will grow, take on new shape, redirect it's path and I hope you will follow with me.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

MiniCinni Waffles.... Super FAST

Cinnamon rolls & a waffle iron.. Finished with the provided frosting and some warmed syrup that I've added some cinnamon to. KIDS LOVED IT! 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

GARLIC! YUM

Cut thawed and risen dough, melt butter and mix all together, coat bottom with some butter mix
Pour remaining mix over dough and bake until golden brown